Election Reform Targeted

Twenty million dollars in federal funds for election reform could soon be coming to Mississippi, thanks to a new federal law.

Secretary of State Eric Clark says the law will give Mississippi the funding it needs to implement recently-passed state election reform laws. He says the most important thing it will do is allow voter rolls in every county to be connected by computer, therefore making fraud more difficult.

The computer would help counties purge voters who've died, moved or been convicted of a felony from their rolls.

Clark says he hopes the money can also help replace some of the old and outdated voting machines in the state, and provide machines in every precinct that are accessible to the disabled. Congress still must appropriate it.

Now, Clark says he believes the next step in election reform should be a law requiring voters to present identification when they vote.

The legislature has not acted in the past on calls from others to pass some kind of voter I.D. legislation, but Clark says if voter fraud is to be prevented, that it must be done.

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